College of American Pathologists

About: College of American Pathologists is a education organization based out in Northfield, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: SNOMED CT & Guideline. The organization has 284 authors who have published 370 publications receiving 24490 citations. The organization is also known as: CAP.

Practice guidelines for blood component therapy: A report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Blood Component Therapy

Abstract: In 1994, the American Society of Anesthesiologists established the Task Force on Blood Component Therapy to develop evidence‐based indications for transfusing red blood cells, platelets, fresh‐frozen plasma, and cryoprecipitate in perioperative and peripartum settings. The guidelines were developed according to an explicit methodology. The principal conclusions of the task force are that red blood cell transfusions should not be dictated by a single hemoglobin \"trigger\" but instead should be based on the patient's risks of developing complications of inadequate oxygenation. Red blood cell transfusion is rarely indicated when the hemoglobin concentration is greater than 10 g/dL and is almost always indicated when it is less than 6 g/dL. The indications for autologous transfusion may be more liberal than for allogeneic (homologous) transfusion. The risks of bleeding in surgical and obstetric patients are determined by the extent and type of surgery, the ability to control bleeding, the actual and anticipated rate of bleeding, and the consequences of uncontrolled bleeding. Prophylactic platelet transfusion is ineffective when thrombocytopenia is due to increased platelet destruction. Surgical and obstetric patients with microvascular bleeding usually require platelet transfusion if the platelet count is less than 50 x 109 /l and rarely require therapy if it is greater than 100 x 10 sup 9 /l. Fresh‐frozen plasma is indicated for urgent reversal of warfarin therapy, correction of known coagulation factor deficiencies for which specific concentrates are unavailable, and correction of microvascular bleeding when prothrombin and partial thromboplastin times are > 1.5 times normal. It is contraindicated for augmentation of plasma volume or albumin concentration. Cryoprecipitate should be considered for patients with von Willebrand's disease unresponsive to desmopressin, bleeding patients with von Willebrand's disease, and bleeding patients with fibrinogen levels below 80–100 mg/dL. The task force recommends careful adherence to proper indications for blood component therapy to reduce the risks of transfusion.

Circulating Tumor DNA Analysis in Patients With Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology and College of American Pathologists Joint Review

Abstract: PurposeClinical use of analytical tests to assess genomic variants in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is increasing. This joint review from ASCO and the College of American Pathologists summarizes current information about clinical ctDNA assays and provides a framework for future research.MethodsAn Expert Panel conducted a literature review on the use of ctDNA assays for solid tumors, including pre-analytical variables, analytical validity, interpretation and reporting, and clinical validity and utility.ResultsThe literature search identified 1,338 references. Of those, 390, plus 31 references supplied by the Expert Panel, were selected for full-text review. There were 77 articles selected for inclusion.ConclusionThe evidence indicates that testing for ctDNA is optimally performed on plasma collected in cell stabilization or EDTA tubes, with EDTA tubes processed within 6 hours of collection. Some ctDNA assays have demonstrated clinical validity and utility with certain types of advanced cancer; however, the...

SNOMED RT: a reference terminology for health care.

Abstract: We describe the framework for SNOMED RT (Reference Terminology), designed to complement the broad coverage of medical concepts in SNOMED with a set of enhanced features that significantly increases its value as a reference terminology for representing clinical data. We describe what is meant by a reference terminology, and differentiate SNOMED RT from specialized terminologies that enable user interfaces, electronic messaging, or natural language processing, as well as from other specialized reference terminologies whose primary purpose is for representing data that is not primarily clinical in nature. We then describe how SNOMED RT represents multiple hierarchies and incorporates description logic. We believe that such a comprehensive set of concepts at multiple levels of granularity, with multiple logic-based subsumption hierarchies can meet the requirements of a reference terminology for health care.